Bullying is a major issue in UK schools, with new data revealing that nearly a quarter of pupils are bullied “at least a few times a month”.

The latest report from the Programme for International Student Assessment, entitled Students’ Wellbeing, is based on a survey of 15-year-olds. It shows that on average, across developed countries, 18.7 per cent of pupils are bullied at least a few times a month - but this rises to 23.9 per cent in the UK.

Pupils in Hong Kong say they are the most at risk, with 32.3 per cent saying that they were bullied at this frequency.

Hitting and pushing

Bullying takes different forms: the survey found that 6.9 per cent of boys in the UK said they were hit or pushed at least a few times a month, compared with the average across developed countries of 6.1 per cent.

Girls in the UK are less likely to be hit by bullies than boys, but are more likely to have other students “spread nasty rumours” about them. This happens to 12.9 per cent of UK girls, compared with 9.3 per cent of boys.

Internationally, about 9.2 per cent of girls in developed countries are bullied through the spreading of rumours.

@teshelen